Penn State Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet Not Expected to Wrestle This Season

Penn State wrestling head coach Cael Sanderson doesn’t expect redshirt freshman heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet to compete this season.

“If Greg were available, he’d be wrestling,” Sanders told the media Wednesday. “We’re not expecting to get him back this year, unfortunately, so it’s [Seth] Nevills’ opportunity to step up and get things done.”

Coming into the year ranked as the nation’s No. 5 heavyweight, Kerkvliet did not see the mat in Penn State’s first three dual meets. The four-time Minnesota state high school champion went 8-0 wrestling unattached during his redshirt season in 2019-20.

With Kerkvliet unavailable, Nevills has filled the starting spot at the weight well for the Nittany Lions. Nevills is 3-0 on the year with a pin, tech fall, and decision. The true sophomore also earned a top-10 ranking, coming in at No. 7 according to InterMat’s latest NCAA rankings.

Sanderson also addressed some of the other question marks Penn State has at 125 and 149 lbs.

At 149 lbs., Sanderson said the starting spot is still up for grabs. In its three matches thus far, Penn State has wrestled three different wrestlers at that weight: Jarod Verkleeren, Luke Gardner and Terell Barraclough.

As far as 125 lbs. goes, Penn State will soon wrestle someone at the weight for the first time this season. No 125-pounders were cleared to wrestle for the first three matches of the year. The starter is expected to be either Robbie Howard or Baylor Shunk.